By Richard Thomas
Rating: B+
(Credit: Richard Thomas)
One of the things that makes me smirk about a single malt whiskey aged, even in part, in old beer casks is that it takes a spirit made from malted barley does at least some maturation in a cask that was used to age beer, also made from malted barley. The whiskey starts with Virginia Distilling Company, a craft distiller found in the Old Dominion’s part of the Blue Ridge Mountains. I first became acquainted with their wares in their early days, when the distillery produced hybrids of imported Scotch whisky and their in-house, Virginia-made American single malt. The distillery has since moved on to entirely in-house whiskey, but often with a nod to other Virginia drinks-makers in their choices of wine, cider and beer casks to work with.
Such was not the case for this Brewer’s Coalition release, which uses ex-bourbon barrels used to make Goose Island Bourbon County Stout. That Chicago brewery made a name for itself in the early years of “Craft Beer 1.0” (i.e. the initial wave of what would be called craft beer), and part of its renown was its bourbon barrel aged stout. They are hardly small anymore, though; Goose Island was acquired by Budweiser.
Bardstown Bourbon Company reached for Goose Island Bourbon County wood previously, but that was for a bourbon. This is the first time it has been used to finish an American single malt. Not much is said about the statistics side of the bottle, beyond that it is 100 proof.
The Whiskey
The stout cask finish did not offset the gold coloring so many American malts have, but it did impart a strong note of cocoa to the nose, joining malty sweetness and hazelnuts. Further nosings reveal a gentle, underlaid whiff of mustiness. Sipping takes things to honey, nutmeg, cocoa ginger and a sliver of dry wood. The finish rolls off that dry wood note, before fading back to cocoa. So, I take the choice of Bourbon County barrels to be a great success, because that stout imparted a sustained current of cocoa throughout the single malt, and with it came a modest, but very genuine stamp of character.
The Price
Expect to pay $50 a bottle for this Virginia-meets-Chicago single malt.
